Raggedy Ann is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and has a triangle nose. Johnny Gruelle received US Patent D47789 for his Raggedy Ann doll on September 7, 1915. The character was created in 1915 as a doll, and was introduced to the public in the 1918 book Raggedy Ann Stories. When a doll was marketed with the book, the concept had great success. A sequel, Raggedy Andy Stories (1920), introduced the character of her brother, Raggedy Andy.

History

...found themselves at the center of several legend cycles — groups of stories that, while containing kernels of truth, are more myth than they are history. What makes this even more intriguing is that fact that Johnny Gruelle, either unwittingly or with the great sense of humor he was known for, initiated many of these legends, a number of which are continuously repeated as the factual history of Raggedy Ann and Andy.[1]

Hall notes that according to oft-repeated myth, Gruelle's daughter Marcella brought from her grandmother's attic a faceless doll on which the artist drew a face, and that Gruelle suggested that Marcella's grandmother sew a shoe button for a missing eye. He then combined the names of two James Whitcomb Riley poems, "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie" and suggested calling the doll Raggedy Ann. Hall says the date of this supposed occurrence is given as early as 1900 and as late as 1914, with the locale variously given as suburban Indianapolis, Indiana, downtown Cleveland, Ohio, or rural Connecticut.

Gruelle's wife Myrtle corrected Hall, purporting that it was Johnny who retrieved a long-forgotten, homemade rag doll from the attic of his parents' Indianapolis home sometime around the turn of the 20th century. As Myrtle Gruelle recalled, "There was something he wanted from the attic. While he was rummaging around for it, he found an old rag doll his mother had made for his sister. He said then that the doll would make a good story."[1] The couple's daughter Marcella had not yet been born when Gruelle found the doll, Myrtle Gruelle continued. Johnny Gruelle "kept [the doll] in his mind until we had Marcella. He remembered it when he saw her play [with] dolls. ... He wrote the stories around some of the things she did. He used to get ideas from watching her."[1]

Additionally, Gruelle did not create Raggedy Ann as a tribute to his daughter following her death at 13 from an infected vaccination; Hall notes his patent application for the doll was already in progress, and the artist received final approval by the U.S. Patent office the same month as Marcella's death.[1] Nonetheless, that myth led the anti-vaccination movement to adopt Raggedy Ann as a symbol,[2] though Marcella died from an infected vaccination, not from the side effects of the vaccination itself.[1]

1982 McCall's pattern #8077 re-issue of previous patterns with new cover, with dolls with different hair color

McCall's has continued to produce identical #2531 patterns with only a change in cover design. Simplicity Patterns released a licensed doll pattern for a different design doll that included all four sizes in the late 1990s.[citation needed]

Books

Many books were released and credited to Johnny Gruelle after his death, regardless of who wrote and illustrated them. Ethel Hays illustrated most of the Saalfield Publishing Company stories published from 1944.[9]

Raggedy Ann in the Magic Book (1939) written by Johnny Gruelle, illustrated by Worth Gruelle

Raggedy Ann and the Laughing Brook (1940) by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Ann and the Golden Butterfly (1940) by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Ann and the Hoppy Toad (1940)

Raggedy Ann Helps Grandpa Hoppergrass (1940) by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Ann Goes Sailing (1941)

Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Nice Fat Policeman (1942) by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Ann and Betsy Bonnet String (1943) by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Ann and Andy (1944)

Raggedy Ann in the Snow White Castle (1946)

Raggedy Ann's Adventures (1947)

Raggedy Ann and the Slippery Slide (1947)

Raggedy Ann's Mystery (1947)

Raggedy Ann and Marcella's First Day At School (1952)

Raggedy Ann's Merriest Christmas (1952) by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Andy's Surprise (1953)

Raggedy Ann's Tea Party (1954)

Raggedy Ann's Secret (1959)

Raggedy Ann and the Golden Ring (1961)

Raggedy Ann and the Hobby Horse (1961) by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Ann and the Happy Meadow (1961)

Raggedy Ann and the Wonderful Witch (1961)

Raggedy Ann and the Tagalong Present (1971)

Raggedy Andy's Treasure Hunt (1973)

Raggedy Ann's Cooking School (1974)

Raggedy Granny Stories (1977) by Doris Thorner Salzberg

Raggedy Ann and Andy's Grow and Learn Library A collection of 20 books published by Lynx, each story contains a lesson, such as maintaining friendship when someone moves away or why parents must go to work. Raggedy Ann and Andy live in Marcella's playroom with many other toys like Babette the French doll, Raggedy dog, The Camel with the Wrinkled Knees, Sunny Bunny, Bubbles the Clown, Tim the Toy Soldier and more.

References

^Oshinsky, David (February 20, 2015). "The Return of the Vaccine Wars". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 15, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2015. Indeed, [the anti-vaccination movement's] most visible symbol was the smiling but entirely limp Raggedy Ann doll created by a popular cartoonist for his daughter, who had fallen ill and would later die, he believed, from a smallpox shot she received without his permission.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) Additional , June 15, 2016.